The creepy French supernatural series ‘The Returned’ will be adapted into a new show for the United States under the watchful eye of ‘Lost’ co-creator and current ‘Bates Motel’ executive producer Carlton Cuse…
If you didn’t get a chance to watch ‘The Returned’ (Les Revenants in French) while it was airing here in the United States on the Sundance Channel, go check it out immediately. Not only was it the kind of cerebral horror that television networks in America just don’t ever seem to get right, but the show was perfectly executed and taut drama for every, single episode.
Well based on the success of the series in France, A&E has given the green light to a 10 episode order of an American version of the show with ‘Lost’ and ‘Bates Motel’ executive producer Carlton Cuse on board as the writer for the new show.
‘The Returned’ focused on a small mountain town in France where people long dead and buried just start showing up again, many of them decades after passing. The people they left behind now have to deal with the life altering and scary prospect that their loved ones have returned from the dead. Think of it as zombies who act, talk, live and breathe just like they did just before the moment of their death and now they’re back.
The consequences of the dead returning from the grave inflicts personal and emotional upheaval for everyone in town. The series was hailed as a critical success, and we even named it as one of the best new shows of 2013.
Now typically adaptations of original work are rarely as good as the first offering, and I’d wager the same here just due to the pitch perfect casting, writing and directing of ‘The Returned’. That said — Carlton Cuse has proven to be an expert at adapting material just like he’s doing for the new FX series ‘The Strain’ debuting this summer. Cuse has done a wonderful job with ‘Bates Motel’ and I expect if there’s someone to trust with ‘The Returned’ adaptation, he’s the guy for the job.
The 10 episode order from A&E will go straight to series with a debut date to be announced at a later time.
